Dear Parent,
It’s the third trimester. Your feet are probably swollen–you’re not sure, your baby bump is blocking most of the view. You feel rounder, wider, heavier and it’s not the best feeling at all. You check your armpits and they’ve turned dark; your nose has grown bigger, your cheeks a little puffier, and your growing belly is starting to show signs of being awfully stretched.
You’re always finding something to sit down on, and that cute little nugget on the sonogram now feels like a size of a melon sitting on top of your bladder; adding pressure on your groin like a rock. You’re always tired, you’re always hungry, and you look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself in defeat—this is the heaviest and ugliest you’ve ever been.
You look at the maternity shots of other pregnant women on your socials and they look radiant, happy, and beautiful. You start to wonder, where is that pregnancy glow?
You start to concoct a plan in your mind on quickly getting that pre-pregnancy body back as well as scheduling an appointment for a salon fix, because your hair has doubled its volume but lost its life and luster. And like a thief in the night, guilt slowly creeps in and you end up asking yourself, “Why am I feeling this way?” “I should be celebrating because I’m about to have a baby!” “Why do I feel like this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be?”
Listen, you’re not alone.
Sure, the hormones are in haywire, so there’s Science behind feeling emotionally and physically drained. But here’s the truth, your body is growing another life form and preparing you for one of nature’s absolute spectacles—the gift of life.
So don’t compare, dear parent. Don’t compare your body to another pregnant body. Don’t compare your journey with another mom-to-be’s journey. This is your journey, own it. This is your season—maybe you’re right, a wider, rounder, heavier season is here—just embrace it. They’re not checking your appearance, only you are. Know that while you may feel uglier, wider, and rounder, this is the closest that you’ll ever get to a miracle. Don’t worry about how pregnancy changes you physically, be prepared how it’s going to change your heart.
Think of how much love your heart will be able to hold, how much care it will be able to give. When that baby starts to kiss you, touch you, and call you Mama, you'll understand the real beauty of pregnancy. To carry your baby means you need to prepare your mind and body for a new chapter waiting to unfold—you need strength, resilience, and endurance. You have to keep eating healthy, getting as much rest as you can, and embracing the good and the bad of your pregnancy journey. Trust me, when they start learning how to answer back, you’ll miss them inside your tummy.
There is so much love to give to your new bundle of joy for when it arrives. For now, that love is all yours. All yours to keep.
And if that's not beautiful, I don't know what is.
A mother immortalizes her last pregnancy in a photo and ‘embraces the ugliness’. Read her story here.
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